About this Book:

Billionaire Ferdinand Sevigny is brave, bold, and brash. But his latest stunt — to sail blindfolded, single-handed, across the Atlantic — goes horribly awry, depositing him onto the summer tourist town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. His sudden arrival triggers a series of sinister events that even he cannot forestall: a naked woman washes up on a beach; a confused teen-aged boy stumbles upon a crime; a naive policeman struggles with a deadly conflict of interest. Now, Sevigny, and all those whose lives he touches, must make decisions that will define them forever.

"[Strangers on the Beach] is what I consider the perfect type of ‘summer read’. [It's a] mystery/thriller that will hold your attention until the end.”––The Miramichi ReaderRead the complete review here.

"Pahigian has constructed a complex thriller, filled with engaging and eccentric characters ... Twists and turns abound in this tale; the author adeptly dekes and dodges, keeping the reader guessing throughout. It's the best kind of thriller — the kind that matters because the character matters." — Allen Adams, The Maine Edge Read the complete review here.

"Strangers on the Beach is compelling reading ... You just can't make up stuff like this. Well, yes, Pahigian did make this up. I think. He did capture the essence of Old Orchard Beach, making the story believable to me ... And you can believe this. You will really enjoy this novel." —George Smith Read the complete review here.

Old Orchard Beach provides backdrop for new Maine mystery

By Aislinn Sarnacki, Bangor Daily News

A man rescues a woman floundering in the surf off Old Orchard Beach. Nearby, a boy meets a stranger lurking in the dunes. A blood-caked mask washes ashore. And so the mystery of “Strangers on the Beach” begins.

The book’s author, Joshua Pahigian, originally from Massachusetts, first visited Old Orchard Beach as a tourist, vacationing in the oceanside town with his wife for multiple summers.

“The image I got as a visitor wasn’t really the true essence of the town,” said Pahigian, who moved to Buxton, Maine, with his wife in 2002, after graduating from Emerson College with a master of fine arts in creative writing. “When I finally moved to Maine and got a job working in Old Orchard Beach, I saw it during the off season, when it’s a small community of about 8,000 residents. It’s a supportive community — kind of a hardscrabble town in some ways.”

It was on his morning walks along the shore, from Pine Point Beach to Old Orchard Beach, that he finally found the inspiration to pursue his true passion: fiction.

“I guess having that connection to Old Orchard meant a lot to me. Personally, it gave me the confidence I needed — writing about a place I loved and living so close by,” he said. “I’d get ideas — seeing the tourists, talking to the locals, smelling the food, feeling the water — it all inspired me.”

Somewhere along the way, fictional characters took shape and fell into the dangerous plot of “Strangers of the Beach,” published in October by Maine’s Islandport Press.

“I didn’t want just one protagonist to drive the action forward the way we are traditionally taught to write,” Pahigian said. “I wanted to write several stories that would eventually come together in one main story.”

The perspectives in the story vary drastically, from a local 15-year-old boy to a thrill-seeking billionaire. And as events unfold, these strangers are brought together for better or for worse.

“I wanted all the characters to have the opportunity to change in some way during the story,” he said. “Most of the characters emerge from the story in a little bit better place — with some notable exceptions.”

Some of the characters simply don’t survive.

The novel’s short, action-packed chapters flip-flop between characters, making for a quick read. Just when the reader figures out one puzzle, another is presented.

“There was something very liberating and exciting about having the freedom to take the story where I wanted it to go, rather than to have to adhere to the description of a baseball park,” Pahigian said. “It’s a completely different sort of writing than my nonfiction. I think it’s a more personal sort of thing for me. Fiction writing is sharing my imagination with the world.”

Pahigian is already halfway through the first draft of his next novel, and while it’s not a sequel, it does take place in his beloved Old Orchard Beach.